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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. bark — to shout
  4. field — for sport
  5. root — of a word
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. deal — to handle
  9. spell — magic
  10. file — a document
  11. root — the cause
  12. field — farmland
  13. wound — an injury
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. root — of a plant
  17. branch — a division
  18. spell — a short time
  19. file — a tool
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. file — a line of people
  22. spell — letters
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com